Tragic Deaths Force Renewed Debate On Value Of Fraternities

July 03, 1988|By Philip Lentz, Chicago Tribune.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — At an initiation party for pledges of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Rutgers University last winter, new members were encouraged to drink until they were sick. The trouble was, James Callahan, an 18-year-old freshman, drank until he died.

In response to Callahan`s death, Rutgers last week announced tough restrictions on fraternities and sororities, reviving a decades-old debate here over whether the Greek system belongs in the intellectual environment of a college campus.

The debate is occurring with growing frequency at universities across the country in the wake of a rising number of ugly fraternity-related incidents.

As fraternities and sororities continue to gain in popularity, episodes of rowdy drunkeness, cruel hazing, sexual harassment and even gang rapes have become more common.

Last March, a female freshman at Florida State University was allegedly raped at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and then dumped at a nearby house. Two members were charged with sexually abusing the woman.

In April, a student at the State University of New York at Albany died during a fraternity ritual that involved wading into a cold pond.

Several days later, a student at Rider College in Lawrenceville, N.J., was killed in a car accident when several drunk members of the Theta Chi fraternity left a party on a beer run.

More than 40 persons have died in fraternity-related incidents in the last 10 years, according to Eileen Stevens, a Long Island housewife who began a campaign against hazing after her son died in 1977 in a fraternity stunt at Alfred University in upstate New York.

``They still feel they need that rite of passage, that test of endurance or loyalty which often involves hazing, weeding out the undesirable and making it a more gratifying experience, although it is life-threatening and statistically very dangerous,`` Stevens said.

Due to the recent upsurge of incidents and, in part, to Stevens` campaign against fraternity initiation rites, the number of states with antihazing laws has increased from 5 to 29 in the last decade.

In the Rutgers incident, 15 students were indicted for putting a pledge in physical jeopardy. It was the first use of New Jersey`s five-year-old antihazing law, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Alan Rockoff.

These crackdowns come at a time when fraternities are enjoying a strong revival.

Following a decline in the 1960s that left membership nationwide at 150,000, the number of persons joining fraternities is now more than 300,000, said Jonathan Brant, director of the National Interfraternity Conference.

According to college administrators and fraternity officials, the reasons for this rebound include a more conservative student body, the waning of anti- Establishment attitudes of the 1960s and the desire for professional advancement through contacts with alumni.

``This is the easiest way to make friends,`` said James Coolbaugh as he watched television in the Chi Phi house along fraternity row on Rutgers`

College Avenue.

``There`s always a chance of having an older brother with your major to help you out, to have copies of old exams.``

But critics say the resumption of the 21-year-old drinking age in many states has played a major role in making fraternities attractive to underage students who could not otherwise gain access to alcohol.

``We`ve reverted to the `50s and the way things were,`` Stevens said.

``It`s now very important for students to belong. It`s a home away from home. And with the drinking-age business, it`s a great place to get some alcohol. Maybe some people are gravitating to fraternities for the wrong reasons.``

The question facing the academic community is whether the Greek system is compatible with university life. Several colleges have banned fraternities and sororities in recent years, including Amherst, Colby, Williams, Franklin and Marshall and the University of Lowell.

At Rutgers, a committee set up following the Lambda Chi Alpha incident suggested restrictions on Greek life but voted against banishing fraternities and sororities from campus.

Provost Paul Leath, in his decision last month accepting most of the committee`s recommendations, said: ``Were we to derecognize the Greek system at this time, it would continue to exist in some fashion, and a Greek system that is not recognized by the university has no possibility of improvement or rehabilitation but indeed would further deteriorate.``

Instead, Leath banned rush or membership drives for freshmen, required Greek organizations to reapply for university recognition every three years, toughened academic requirements for Greek membership and ordered that bars be removed from fraternity houses.

He also said adult live-in supervision would eventually be required at all fraternities. Sororities do not have individual houses at Rutgers.

``At a large public university,`` said John Creeden, the assistant provost, ``it`s important to create a large range of options for people. The Greeks do build allegiances to the university and do perform a fair amount of public service.``

The plight facing the academic community, he said, is whether the antisocial and sometimes violent behavior exhibited by some fraternities and sororities is an inherent part of the Greek system.

If so, ``then those organizations have to be called into question,`` he said, ``and you must compare that behavior against the good things that they do.``